Changing companion communication device behavior based on status of wearable device

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for detecting a wearing status of a wearable device, the wearing status indicating whether a user is wearing the wearable device and sending wearing status data to a companion communication device to control a behavior of the companion communication device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/172,070, entitled “CHANGING COMPANION DEVICE BEHAVIOR BASED ON STATUSOF WEARABLE DEVICE”, filed Jun. 2, 2016, set to issue as U.S. Pat. No.10,067,734 on Sep. 4, 2018, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 62/171,338, entitled “CHANGING COMPANION DEVICE BEHAVIORBASED ON STATUS OF WEARABLE DEVICE”, filed Jun. 5, 2015, the content ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for allpurposes.

FIELD

The present technology pertains to controlling a device, including tocontrolling a device paired with a wearable device based on the statusof the wearable device.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices can change their behavior based on whether aperipheral device is connected to the electronic device. For example, amusic player device can route audio to a pair of headphones when theheadphones are connected to a headphone jack of the music player device.

Additionally, some peripheral devices can wirelessly connect to anelectronic device, and a user can send information to the electronicdevice by providing an input to the peripheral device. For example, awireless headset can wirelessly connect with a mobile phone and caninclude a button on the wireless headset that can be used to answer avoice call on the mobile phone. However, requiring user interaction witha peripheral device to communicate a user command can be non-intuitive,can involve hard-to-press controls, and can otherwise be burdensome.

SUMMARY

Additional features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forthin the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or can be learned by practice of the herein disclosedprinciples. The features and advantages of the disclosure can berealized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinationsparticularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and otherfeatures of the disclosure will become more fully apparent from thefollowing description and appended claims, or can be learned by thepractice of the principles set forth herein.

The present technology involves a wearable device pairing with acompanion communication device and sending data to the paired companioncommunication device, the data describing a wearing status thatindicates whether a user is wearing the wearable device and/or whetherthe wearing status of the wearable device changes. The companioncommunication device can determine, based on the wearing status datareceived from the wearable device, one or more actions to take, such ashow to route audio data, when to change a behavior of the companioncommunication device, or when/how to change aspects of an applicationexecuting on the companion communication device.

In some embodiments of the present technology, the wearable device is awireless ear bud that includes sensors for determining when the wirelessear bud is worn in a user's ear. The wireless ear bud can send a signalthat indicates changes to the wearing status of the wireless ear bud toindicate whether the wireless ear bud is worn in a user's ear. A pairedcompanion communication device, e.g., a phone, can detect the signalsent by the wireless ear bud and can determine whether to route audiodata to the wireless ear bud based on the wearing status of the wirelessear bud. For example, the companion communication device can route audiodata to the wireless ear bud when the wireless ear bud is worn in auser's ear and can route audio data to an alternate output of thecompanion communication device when the wireless ear bud is not worn ina user's ear.

Additionally, a companion communication device paired with a wirelessear bud can determine to control other behaviors of the paired companioncommunication device based on the signal that indicates changes to thewearing status of the wireless ear bud, e.g., based on whether thewireless ear bud is worn in a user's ear. In some embodiments, a phonecall being received at a companion communication device paired with awireless ear bud is answered and audio data from the phone call isrouted to the wireless ear bud in response to detecting that thewireless ear bud is worn in a user's ear without requiring additionaluser setup, configuration, etc. Also, in some embodiments, when a mediaapplication is being played on a companion communication device that ispaired with a wireless ear bud, the companion communication device canroute audio data to the wireless ear bud when the wireless ear bud isworn in a user's ear and playback can be paused when the wireless earbud is not worn in (e.g., removed from) the user's ear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the disclosure can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the principles briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and are nottherefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the principlesherein are described and explained with additional specificity anddetail through the use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example wireless ear bud that wirelessly pairswith a companion communication device according to some embodiments ofthe present technology.

FIG. 1B illustrates an example system having two coupled wearablewireless ear buds paired with one or more companion communicationdevices according to some embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example method of controlling the behavior of acompanion communication device wirelessly paired with a wireless ear budaccording to some embodiments of the present technology.

FIGS. 3A-3N illustrate examples of changes to a wearing status ofwireless ear buds paired with companion communication devices resultingin changing the behavior of the companion communication devicesaccording to some embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example wireless ear bud case according to someembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate exemplary possible system embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the disclosure are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

The disclosed technology addresses the need in the art for wearabledevices that can pair with a companion communication device and controlbehaviors of the paired combination of wearable device and companioncommunication device based at least in part on the wearing status of thedevice, e.g., whether the wearable device is being worn, being put on,or being taken off. The present technology involves systems, methods,and non-transitory media for pairing one or more wearable devices with acompanion communication device and for changing one or more behaviors ofthe wearable device and/or the companion communication device based onwhether the wearable device is worn by a user and/or a change in thewearing status of the wearable device.

As used throughout this disclosure, the terms “wearing,” “wearingstatus,” and “worn” can be used to refer to various ways to have on, orotherwise associate with, a user's body wearable technology in one ormore manners that allow the wearable technology to be used.

In some embodiments of the present technology, sensors are included aspart of wearable devices to determine a wearing status of the wearabledevices, and the wearable devices are configured to communicate thewearing status of the wearable device, and changes to the wearing statusof the wearable device, to a companion communication device in order toaffect a behavior of the companion communication device. Many examplesdescribed herein involve a wearing status of a wireless ear budaffecting the behavior of a companion communication device. However, awide range of wearable technology can be configured to take advantage ofthe benefits of the present technology. For example, the wearable devicecan include eyeglasses, sunglasses, headphones, a watch, etc., thatinclude sensors for detecting a wearing status of the wearable deviceand also include a communication interface for communicating the wearingstatus of the wearable device to a paired companion communicationdevice.

FIG. 1A illustrates a wireless ear bud 165 that wirelessly couples witha companion communication device according to some embodiments of thepresent technology. The wireless ear bud 165 includes a communicationinterface 175 that can be used to pair the wireless ear bud 165 with thecompanion communication device. The communication interface 175 can alsobe used to couple the wireless ear bud 165 with another wireless ear budto form a pair of untethered, wireless ear buds.

The wireless ear bud 165 includes an audio output 170 for converting areceived signal into sound. The signal can be received from a pairedcompanion communication device (not shown) via the communicationinterface 175. The wireless ear bud 165 also can include a processor180, memory 185, a battery 190, a microphone 199, and one or moresensors 195 for detecting when the wireless ear bud 165 is placed in anear. The sensors 195 can be any number and any type of sensor(s) thatcan detect when the wireless ear bud is in a user's ear. For example,the sensors 195 can include any or all of optical proximity sensors,pressure sensors, heat sensors, moisture sensors, etc. Further, thesensors 195 can be of a single type or multiple types.

The wireless ear bud 165 can be coupled with another wireless ear bud toform a pair of untethered, wireless ear buds. In some cases, one of thecoupled wireless ear buds takes a primary role, while the other of thecoupled wireless ear buds takes a secondary role, where the former canbe referred to as the primary wireless ear bud, while the latter can bereferred to as the secondary wireless ear bud. The primary wireless earbud can perform a number of actions including: (i) pairing with acompanion communication device, (ii) receiving audio data from thecompanion communication device, (iii) routing audio data to thesecondary wireless ear bud, (iv) receiving in-ear status informationfrom the secondary wireless ear bud, and (v) sending, to the companioncommunication device, data regarding the in-ear status of the primarywireless ear bud and/or of the secondary wireless ear bud.

The wireless ear bud 165, in some embodiments, does not include any typeof user input such as a button, so a user cannot explicitly provide amanual input to the wireless ear bud 165 to indicate that the user wantsthe wireless ear bud 165 to perform an action. For example, knownheadphones can include a button on the headphones that is used to answeran incoming voice call from a connected smartphone.

Accordingly, the present technology involves using a wearing status of awearable device and using changes in the wearing status of the wearabledevice to cause changes to a behavior of companion communicationdevices, which can include changes to the behavior of applicationsrunning on companion communication devices.

A wide variety of behaviors on the companion communication device can bechanged based on a change in the wearing status of either or both of thewireless ear buds. For example, audio information associated with amusic application can be routed to a paired wireless ear bud when thewireless ear bud is inserted into a user's ear. Further, the routing ofan audio stream can be changed, e.g., from a speaker to the wireless earbud, when the wireless ear bud is inserted into a user's ear. Likewise,a control component (e.g., a “play” instruction or a “pause”instruction) can be executed when a paired wireless ear bud is insertedinto or is removed from a user's ear.

In another example, an in-coming voice call received at a pairedcompanion communication device, such as a paired smartphone, can beautomatically answered by the companion communication device when thecompanion communication device receives data indicating that a pairedwireless ear bud is placed in (or inserted into) a user's ear. Also, theaudio from the voice call can be sent to the paired wireless ear bud,and the companion communication device can receive, from the pairedwireless ear bud, voice data of the user acquired via the microphone ofthe paired wireless ear bud. In some embodiments, the voice call can beprocessed by a voice application executing on the companioncommunication device.

In some embodiments of the present technology, an operating system oroperational settings of a device, e.g., a companion communicationdevice, can be changed in response to a wearing status or to a change inwearing status of a paired wearable device, e.g., a paired wireless earbud. For example, a companion communication device can have a defaultsetting embedded in its operating system to require a fingerprint sensorto confirm a user's fingerprint before unlocking the companioncommunication device or before completing a purchase request using thecompanion communication device. According to the present technology, apair of glasses with a camera that can perform retinal scanning candetect a user putting on the glasses, scan a user's retina to confirmthe user's identity based on the change in wearing status, andautomatically send a signal to cause an operating system of a companioncommunication device to confirm the user's identity and to unlock thecompanion communication device or to allow the user to complete apurchase request.

Although a number of behaviors are described explicitly herein, thosewith ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the presentdisclosure will readily appreciate that a wide variety of otherbehaviors can be changed by a companion communication device thatreceives a wearing status or a change in a wearing status from a pairedwearable device.

FIG. 1B illustrates a system 100 having two coupled wearable wirelessear buds 165, 110 paired with one or more companion communicationdevices 115, 120, 125 according to some embodiments of the presenttechnology. Wireless ear bud 165 can serve as a primary wireless earbud, and wireless ear bud 110 can serve as a secondary wireless ear bud.The primary wireless ear bud 165 can pair with one or more of thecompanion communication devices 115, 120, 125 and also can route audiodata to the secondary wireless ear bud 110.

The wireless ear buds 165, 110 can detect, via sensors 195, when thewireless ear buds 165, 110 are worn in a user's ear. The primarywireless ear bud 165 can receive data from the secondary wireless earbud 110 that describes the wearing status of the secondary wireless earbud 110. Also, the primary wireless ear bud 165 can send its own wearingstatus and the wearing status of the secondary wireless ear bud 110 tothe companion communication devices 115, 120, 125 with which the primarywireless ear bud 165 is paired. Likewise, the primary wireless ear bud165 can receive data from the paired companion communication devices115, 120, 125, and the data can reflect a changed behavior of thecompanion communication devices 115, 120, 125 responsive to a change inthe wearing status of one or more of the wireless ear buds 110, 165.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart 200 of an exemplary method of controllingthe behavior of a companion communication device wirelessly paired witha wireless ear bud according to some embodiments of the presenttechnology. The method includes, at 210, the companion communicationdevice receiving a signal, from the paired wireless ear bud, thatindicates a wearing status of the paired wireless ear bud. The methodfurther includes, at 220, the companion communication device routingaudio data of the companion communication device to an output of thecompanion communication device based on the wearing status of the pairedwireless ear bud. For example, the signal received from the pairedwireless ear bud can indicate the wearing status of the paired wirelessear bud, and when the wearing status of the paired wireless ear bud isthat the paired wireless ear bud is worn in a user's ear, the companioncommunication device can route the audio data of the companioncommunication device to the paired wireless ear bud. On the other hand,when the signal received from the paired wireless ear bud indicates thatthe wearing status of the paired wireless ear bud is such that thepaired wireless ear bud not worn in the user's ear, the companioncommunication device can route the audio data to an alternate outputsuch as to a default output, a most recently used output, anotheravailable wireless output, or other output of the companioncommunication device.

At 230, the method also includes the companion communication devicereceiving a signal from the paired wireless ear bud indicating that thewearing status of the wireless ear bud has changed. In response, at 240,the behavior of the companion communication device can change based atleast in part on the wearing status of the paired wireless ear bud asindicated in the signal received from the paired wireless ear bud.

FIGS. 3A to 3N illustrate examples of changes in wearing status ofwireless ear buds paired to companion communication devices, where thechanges in wearing status changes the behavior of companioncommunication devices according to some embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 3A illustrates a wireless ear bud 300 paired with a companioncommunication device 350 with a voice call being received, but with theon-screen call answering button of the companion communication device350 not being pressed. As shown in FIG. 3B, the wireless ear bud 300 candetect when it is worn in an ear and can send a signal to the companioncommunication device 350 indicating a change in wearing status fromout-of-ear to in-ear. The companion communication device 350 can use thereceived signal to perform one or more actions, such as to automaticallyanswer the incoming voice call, to route audio from the voice call tothe paired wireless ear bud 300, and to receive user audio data obtainedvia the microphone of the wireless ear bud 300.

The present technology allows the action of placing a wireless ear budinto an ear to automatically answer a voice call without any user setup,configuration, etc. Also, as explained in greater detail below, in someembodiments, the wireless ear buds can be made discoverable and can pairwith a user's companion communication device by opening a wireless earbud case that houses a pair of wireless ear buds. Accordingly, thepresent technology can provide a user with the ability to automaticallyanswer a voice call by placing one or both wireless ear buds in theuser's ear after opening a wireless ear bud case and without requiringuser configuration.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the companion communication device 350 canreceive a signal from the paired wireless ear bud 300 that the wearingstatus of the wireless ear bud has changed from in-ear to out-of-ear,such as when the wireless ear bud is removed from the user's ear.Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3D, the companion communication device 350can determine that the wireless ear bud 300 is no longer paired with thecompanion communication device 350. For the events shown in FIGS. 3C and3D, the companion communication device 350 can determine to route audiofor the voice call to a different output of the companion communicationdevice 350, such as to a speaker of the companion communication device350, an alternate output (e.g., a previously connected wireless speaker,a vehicle wireless system, etc.), or the like.

FIG. 3E illustrates a wireless ear bud 300 paired with a companioncommunication device 350 with a voice call being received and anon-screen call answering button of the companion communication device350 being pressed. Initially, as shown in FIG. 3F, the voice call isanswered with the audio routed to a speaker of the companioncommunication device 350 (or to an alternate output as specified by theuser of the companion communication device 350). However, as shown inFIG. 3G, when the companion communication device 350 receives a signalindicating a change in a wearing status of the wireless ear bud 300,which indicates that the wireless ear bud 300 is worn in a user's ear,the companion communication device 350 routes audio from the voice callto the paired wireless ear bud 300. Additionally, the companioncommunication device 350 receives user audio output from the wirelessear bud 300, the user audio being obtained via a microphone of thewireless ear bud 300.

FIG. 3H illustrates a wireless ear bud 300 paired with a companioncommunication device 350 and a voice call received on the companioncommunication device 350. When the voice call is answered by the user bypressing an on-screen call answering button of the companioncommunication device 350, the companion communication device 350 can,based on a signal received from the wireless ear bud 300 that indicatesan in-ear status for the wireless ear bud 300, route audio of the voicecall to the paired wireless ear bud 300 automatically. Additionally, thecompanion communication device 350 can receive from the wireless ear bud300 user audio data for the voice call obtained via the microphone ofthe wireless ear bud 300.

As explained above, a wide variety of behaviors of a companioncommunication device can be controlled based at least in part on thecompanion communication device receiving a signal that indicates awearing status and/or a change in wearing status of a paired wearabledevice.

FIG. 3I illustrates a wireless ear bud 300 paired with a companioncommunication device 350 playing audio through a music application orother media application executing on the companion communication device350. As shown in FIG. 3J, the wireless ear bud 300 can detect when thewireless ear bud 300 is placed in an ear and can send a signal to thecompanion communication device 350 indicating a change in a wearingstatus of the wireless ear bud 300, e.g., from out-of-ear to in-ear. Thecompanion communication device 350 can use the signal received from thewireless ear bud 300 to automatically route audio for the music/mediaapplication executing on the companion communication device 350 to thepaired wireless ear bud 300.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3K and 3L, the companion communication device350 can receive a signal from the paired wireless ear bud 300 indicatingthat the wearing status of the wireless ear bud 300 has changed, such aswhen the wireless ear bud 300 is removed from the user's ear. Asillustrated in FIG. 3K, the companion communication device 350 candetermine to pause the playback of music/audio, or, as illustrated inFIG. 3L, the companion communication device 350 can determine to routethe music/audio to a speaker of the companion communication device 350or to an alternate output of the companion communication device 350(e.g., to a previously connected wireless speaker, to a vehicle wirelesssystem, etc.), or the like. In some embodiments, a user of the companioncommunication device 350 can press an on-screen button on the companioncommunication device 350 to play a music application, after thecompanion communication device 2350 pauses the music application due toa change in wearing status of a paired wireless ear bud 300, e.g., fromin-ear to out-of-ear. Alternatively, the companion communication device350 can receive a subsequent signal that indicates a change in wearingstatus of the paired wireless ear bud 300, e.g., from out-of-ear toin-ear, and can cause the music application executing on the companioncommunication device 350 to resume playback of music/audio and to routethe music/audio to the paired wireless ear bud 300.

In some cases, the behavior of a companion communication device can bebased on the wearing status of both wireless ear buds in a pair ofcoupled wireless ear buds. For example, a primary wireless ear bud in apair of coupled wireless ear buds can receive wearing status data from asecondary wireless ear bud and provide the companion communicationdevice with the wearing status of both wireless ear buds. Alternatively,each wireless ear bud in the pair of coupled wireless ear buds canprovide wearing status to the companion communication device. In eithercase, the companion communication device can change its behavior basedon the wearing status of both of the wireless ear buds. For instance, acompanion communication device can automatically pause audio only whenboth wireless ear buds of a pair of coupled wireless ear buds are notworn in ears of the user. In another example, the companioncommunication device can route audio to a wireless ear bud in mono whenonly one wireless ear bud is worn in an ear of the user and can routeaudio to both wireless ear buds in stereo when both wireless ear budsare worn in ears of the user. In some cases, the companion communicationdevice can change its behavior in response to receiving wearing statusfrom a single device, from a pair of devices, from two or more unrelateddevices, etc. For example, when a companion communication device detectsthat a user is wearing a wireless ear bud that can provide audio outputand is also wearing glasses that can provide visual output, thecompanion communication device can route audio information of a videocall to the wireless ear bud and can route a video component of thevideo call to the glasses.

FIG. 3M illustrates a wireless ear bud 300 paired with a companioncommunication device 360 that is receiving a text message. The wirelessear bud 300 can detect when the wireless ear bud 300 is placed in an earof a user and can send a signal to the companion communication device360 indicating a change in a wearing status of the wireless ear bud 300,e.g., from out-of-ear to in-ear. As shown in FIG. 3N, responsive to thecompanion communication device 360 receiving the signal indicating achange in wearing status of the wireless ear bud 300 from out-of-ear toin-ear under a predetermined condition (e.g., within a predeterminedthreshold time period), the companion communication device 360 can usetext-to-speech software to cause the text message to be converted andsent as audio data to the paired wireless ear bud 300 to play back tothe user. In addition, after playback of the audio corresponding to thetext message ends, the wireless ear bud 300 can send to the companioncommunication device 360, voice data of the user obtain via a microphoneof the wireless ear bud, and the companion communication device 360 canautomatically compose a reply text message using speech-to-textsoftware.

In some embodiments, a companion communication device can send a signalto a paired wearable device to override one or more features to allowsignals indicating a wearing status and/or changes in a wearing statusto cause changes in operating behavior of the companion communicationdevice.

In some embodiments of the present technology, a companion communicationdevice can receive a signal from a paired wearable device indicatingthat the wearable device is being charged, being housed in a case,charging in a case, etc. The companion communication device candetermine whether to perform certain actions based on such types ofevents. For example, when a companion communication device is pairedwith a wearable device that is housed within a case, the companioncommunication device can perform a polling procedure to locate otherdevices with which to pair the companion communication device.

FIG. 4 illustrates a wireless ear bud case 400 according to someembodiments of the present technology. The wireless ear bud case 400houses a pair of wireless ear buds 405, 410 and can connect the wirelessear buds 405, 410 while housed within the wireless ear bud case 400. Thewireless ear bud case 400 can include a cover 445 that closes to coverthe wireless ear buds 405, 410 housed within the wireless ear bud case400, and the wireless ear bud case 400 can include a sensor 455 thatdetects when the cover 445 of the wireless ear bud case 400 is openedand when the cover 445 of the wireless ear bud case 400 is closed. Insome embodiments, the wireless ear buds 405, 410 are configured to pairwith a companion communication device automatically when the wirelessear bud case 400 is opened for a first time.

The wireless ear bud case 400 also includes a battery 430 that can beused for re-charging the wireless ear buds 405, 410 and a charginginterface 435 for connecting the battery 430 to a power source. Thewireless ear bud case 400 can also include an indicator 440 to show acharge status of the wireless ear buds 405, 410 and of the wireless earbud case 400. The wireless ear bud case 400 also includes an input 460,such as a depressible button, to receive manual input to cause thewireless ear buds 405, 410 in the wireless ear bud case 400 to pair toeach other and/or to become discoverable to other devices, such as tocompanion communication devices.

The wireless ear bud case 400 can also include a processor 420, memory425, and a communication interface 450 that can be used to create a link415 between the wireless ear buds 405, 410 via the communicationinterface 450.

The wireless ear buds 405, 410 can be paired to a companioncommunication device. The companion communication device can receive asignal from a pair of wireless ear buds 405, 410, the signal indicatingthat the wireless ear buds 405, 410 are housed in the wireless ear budcase 400, are charging in the wireless ear bud case 400, etc. Thecompanion communication device can determine whether to perform certainactions based on such events, e.g., based at least in part on a wearingstatus of one or more wireless ear buds 405, 410, a housing indicationfor the one or more wireless ear buds 405, 410, and/or a charging statusof the one or more wireless ear buds 405, 410.

In some embodiments of the present technology, a companion communicationdevice can execute an operating system that allows customization ofoperating system settings, application preference settings, userinterface settings, etc. As a result, multiple applications that haveaudio components can execute simultaneously on the companioncommunication device. Therefore, a decision to automatically route audio(or more generally media) to a wearable device in response to occurrenceof an event (e.g., when music is output by a music player) is notintuitive. Accordingly, some embodiments of the present technologyinvolve a wearable device pairing with a companion communication deviceand causing the companion communication device to provide an indicationthat allows audio (or more generally media) to a wearable device. Forexample, pairing a wireless ear bud with a laptop and subsequentlyreceiving a signal from the wireless ear bud that indicates the wirelessear bud is worn in an ear of a user can cause the laptop to publish anaudio route that allows user-selectable controls to route audio from anapplication running on the laptop (e.g., a video chat application, amusic player application, etc.) to the wearable device. When thecompanion communication device receives a signal indicating that thewireless ear bud is not worn, e.g., removed, from an ear of the user,the companion communication device can revoke (e.g., un-publish) thewireless ear bud as an audio route and revert to another audio route,such as a default audio route or a previously used audio route.

In an embodiment, a method, performed by a companion communicationdevice, includes: determining, based on a first signal received from awireless ear bud, a first wearing status indicating whether a user iswearing the wireless ear bud; sending audio information of the companioncommunication device to a first output based on the first wearingstatus; detecting, based on a second signal received from the wirelessear bud, a change in wearing status of the wireless ear bud to a secondwearing status; and changing a behavior of the companion communicationdevice based at least in part on the change in the wearing status of thewireless ear bud.

In some embodiments, sending the audio information of the companioncommunication device to the first output includes sending the audioinformation of the companion communication device to the wireless earbud via a wireless communication interface of the companioncommunication device when the first wearing status indicates that theuser is wearing the wireless ear bud or that the user placed thewireless ear bud in an ear of the user. In some embodiments, detectingthe change in the wearing status of the wireless ear bud to the secondwearing status includes detecting when the wireless ear bud is removedfrom the ear of the user. In some embodiments, changing the behavior ofthe companion communication device includes sending the audioinformation of the companion communication device to an alternate outputwhen the user is not wearing the wireless ear bud of the wireless earbud is removed from the ear of the user. In some embodiments, thealternate output includes an output of the companion communicationdevice used for audio reproduction before sending the audio informationof the companion communication device to the wireless ear bud. In someembodiments, changing the behavior of the companion communication deviceincludes pausing the audio information of the companion communicationdevice when the wireless ear bud is removed from the ear of the user. Insome embodiments, detecting the change in the wearing status of thewireless ear bud includes detecting when the wireless ear bud is placedin an ear of the user. In some embodiments, changing the behavior of thecompanion communication device includes sending the audio information ofthe companion communication device to the wireless ear bud via awireless communication interface of the companion communication devicewhen the wireless ear bud is placed in the ear of the user. In someembodiments, the audio information of the companion communication devicecomprises audio information associated with a voice application forvoice calls, and changing the behavior of the companion communicationdevice includes, when the wireless ear bud is placed in the ear of theuser, answering an in-coming voice call, and sending the audioinformation associated with the voice application for the in-comingvoice call to the wireless ear bud via a wireless communicationinterface of the companion communication device.

In an embodiment, a wearable device includes: a processor; a sensorconfigured to determine a first wearing status indicating whether thewearable device is being worn; and a communication interface configuredto pair the wearable device to a companion communication device and tosend a signal to the companion communication device to cause thecompanion communication device to send audio information of thecompanion communication device to a first output based on the firstwearing status, where the sensor is further configured to detect achange in wearing status of the wearable device to a second wearingstatus, and the communication interface is further configured to send asignal to the companion communication device to cause the companioncommunication device to change a behavior of the companion communicationdevice based at least in part on the change in the wearing status of thewearable device.

In some embodiments, the wearable device further includes a speaker,where the communication interface is further configured to receive theaudio information of the companion communication device, and theprocessor is configured to play the audio information of the companioncommunication device via the speaker of the wearable device as the firstoutput. In some embodiments, the sensor is further configured to detectwhen the wearable device is not worn by the user. In some embodiments,the signal sent to the companion communication device causes thecompanion communication device to send the audio information of thecompanion communication device to an alternate output when the wearabledevice is not being worn. In some embodiments, the signal to thecompanion communication device to cause the companion communicationdevice to change the behavior of the companion communication deviceincludes a signal to pause the audio information when the wearing statusof the wearable device changes to indicate that the wearable device isno longer being worn. In some embodiments, the sensor is furtherconfigured to detect when the wearable device is placed into an ear. Insome embodiments, the signal to the companion communication devicecausing the companion communication device to change the behavior of thecompanion communication device causes the companion communication deviceto route the audio information of the companion communication device tothe wearable device when the wearable device is placed into the ear. Insome embodiments, the audio information of the companion communicationdevice includes audio information of a voice application for voicecalls, and changing the behavior of the companion communication deviceincludes, when the wearable device is placed into the ear, answering anin-coming voice call; and sending the audio information of the voiceapplication for the in-coming voice call to the wearable device.

In an embodiment, a method performed by a companion communication deviceincludes: determining, based on a first signal received from a wirelessear bud, a first wearing status indicating whether a user is wearing thewireless ear bud; receiving an incoming voice call at the companioncommunication device; and when the first wearing status indicates theuser is wearing the wireless ear bud, answering the voice call; andsending audio information of the voice call to the wireless ear bud.

In some embodiments, the method further includes: when the first wearingstatus indicates the user is not wearing the wireless ear bud,detecting, based on a second signal received from the wireless ear bud,a change in wearing status of the wireless ear bud to a second wearingstatus indicating that the user inserted the wireless ear bud into anear of the user; and responsive to the detecting the change in thewearing status of the wireless ear bud to the second wearing status,sending the audio information of the voice call to the wireless ear bud.In some embodiments, the method further includes: detecting, based on athird signal received from the wireless ear bud, a further change in thewearing status of the wireless ear bud to a third wearing statusindicating that the user removed the wireless ear bud from the ear ofthe user; and responsive to the detecting the change in the wearingstatus of the wireless ear bud to the third wearing status, sending theaudio information of the voice call to a speaker of the companioncommunication device.

In an embodiment, a method of changing a behavior of a companioncommunication device by a wearable device includes: pairing the wearabledevice with the companion communication device; determining, using asensor of the wearable device, a first wearing status indicating whethera user is wearing the wearable device; sending a signal to the companioncommunication device to cause the companion communication device to sendaudio information of the companion communication device to a firstoutput based on the first wearing status; detecting a change in wearingstatus of the wearable device to a second wearing status; and sending asignal to the companion communication device to cause the companioncommunication device to change a behavior of the companion communicationdevice based at least in part on the change in wearing status of thewearable device.

In an embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstores instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform a method including: determining, based on afirst signal received from a wireless ear bud, a first wearing statusindicating whether a user is wearing the wireless ear bud; sending audioinformation of the computing device to a first output based on the firstwearing status; detecting, based on a second signal received from thewireless ear bud, a change in wearing status of the wireless ear bud toa second wearing status; and changing a behavior of the computing devicebased at least in part on the change in the wearing status of thewireless ear bud.

In an embodiment, an apparatus includes: means for determining, based ona first signal received from a wireless ear bud, a first wearing statusindicating whether a user is wearing the wireless ear bud; means forsending audio information of the computing device to a first outputbased on the first wearing status; means for detecting, based on asecond signal received from the wireless ear bud, a change in wearingstatus of the wireless ear bud to a second wearing status; and means forchanging a behavior of the computing device based at least in part onthe change in the wearing status of the wireless ear bud.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate exemplary possible system embodiments.FIG. 5A illustrates a conventional system bus computing systemarchitecture 500 wherein the components of the system are in electricalcommunication with each other using a bus 505. Exemplary system 500includes a processing unit (CPU or processor) 510 and a system bus 505that couples various system components including the system memory 515,such as read only memory (ROM) 520 and random access memory (RAM) 525,to the processor 510. The system 500 can include a cache of high-speedmemory connected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated aspart of the processor 510. The system 500 can copy data from the memory515 and/or the storage device 530 to the cache 512 for quick access bythe processor 510. In this way, the cache can provide a performanceboost that avoids processor 510 delays while waiting for data. These andother modules can control or be configured to control the processor 510to perform various actions. Other system memory 515 may be available foruse as well. The memory 515 can include multiple different types ofmemory with different performance characteristics. The processor 510 caninclude any general purpose processor and a hardware module or softwaremodule, such as module 1 532, module 2 534, and module 3 536 stored instorage device 530, configured to control the processor 510 as well as aspecial-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporatedinto the actual processor design. The processor 510 may essentially be acompletely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores orprocessors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processormay be symmetric or asymmetric.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 500, an inputdevice 545 can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as amicrophone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphicalinput, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so forth. An outputdevice 535 can also be one or more of a number of output mechanismsknown to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodalsystems can enable a user to provide multiple types of input tocommunicate with the computing device 500. The communications interface540 can generally govern and manage the user input and system output.There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardwarearrangement and therefore the basic features here may easily besubstituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they aredeveloped.

Storage device 530 is a non-volatile memory and can be a hard disk orother types of computer readable media which can store data that areaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges,random access memories (RAMs) 525, read only memory (ROM) 520, andhybrids thereof.

The storage device 530 can include software modules 532, 534, 536 forcontrolling the processor 510. Other hardware or software modules arecontemplated. The storage device 530 can be connected to the system bus505. In one aspect, a hardware module that performs a particularfunction can include the software component stored in acomputer-readable medium in connection with the necessary hardwarecomponents, such as the processor 510, bus 505, output device 535, andso forth, to carry out the function.

FIG. 5B illustrates a computer system 550 having a chipset architecturethat can be used in executing the described method and generating anddisplaying a graphical user interface (GUI). Computer system 550 is anexample of computer hardware, software, and firmware that can be used toimplement the disclosed technology. System 550 can include a processor555, representative of any number of physically and/or logicallydistinct resources capable of executing software, firmware, and hardwareconfigured to perform identified computations. Processor 555 cancommunicate with a chipset 560 that can control input to and output fromprocessor 555. In this example, chipset 560 outputs information tooutput 565, such as a display, and can read and write information tostorage device 570, which can include magnetic media, and solid statemedia, for example. Chipset 560 can also read data from and write datato RAM 575. A bridge 580 for interfacing with a variety of userinterface components 585 can be provided for interfacing with chipset560. Such user interface components 585 can include a keyboard, amicrophone, touch detection and processing circuitry, a pointing device,such as a mouse, and so on. In general, inputs to system 550 can comefrom any of a variety of sources, machine generated and/or humangenerated.

Chipset 560 can also interface with one or more communication interfaces590 that can have different physical interfaces. Such communicationinterfaces can include interfaces for wired and wireless local areanetworks, for broadband wireless networks, as well as personal areanetworks. Some applications of the methods for generating, displaying,and using the GUI disclosed herein can include receiving ordereddatasets over the physical interface or be generated by the machineitself by processor 555 analyzing data stored in storage device 570.Further, the machine can receive inputs from a user via user interfacecomponents 585 and execute appropriate functions, such as browsingfunctions by interpreting these inputs using processor 555.

It can be appreciated that exemplary systems 500 and 550 can have morethan one processor 510 or be part of a group or cluster of computingdevices networked together to provide greater processing capability.

For clarity of explanation, in some instances the present technology maybe presented as including individual functional blocks includingfunctional blocks comprising devices, device components, steps orroutines in a method embodied in software, or combinations of hardwareand software.

In some embodiments the computer-readable storage devices, mediums, andmemories can include a cable or wireless signal containing a bit streamand the like. However, when mentioned, non-transitory computer-readablestorage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals,electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.

Methods according to the above-described examples can be implementedusing computer-executable instructions that are stored or otherwiseavailable from computer readable media. Such instructions can comprise,for example, instructions and data which cause or otherwise configure ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing device to perform a certain function or group of functions.Portions of computer resources used can be accessible over a network.The computer executable instructions may be, for example, binaries,intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, orsource code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used tostore instructions, information used, and/or information created duringmethods according to described examples include magnetic or opticaldisks, flash memory, Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices provided withnon-volatile memory, networked storage devices, and so on.

Devices implementing methods according to these disclosures can comprisehardware, firmware and/or software, and can take any of a variety ofform factors. Typical examples of such form factors include laptops,smart phones, small form factor personal computers, personal digitalassistants, and so on. Functionality described herein also can beembodied in peripherals or add-in cards. Such functionality can also beimplemented on a circuit board among different chips or differentprocesses executing in a single device, by way of further example.

The instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computingresources for executing them, and other structures for supporting suchcomputing resources are means for providing the functions described inthese disclosures.

Although a variety of examples and other information was used to explainaspects within the scope of the appended claims, no limitation of theclaims should be implied based on particular features or arrangements insuch examples, as one of ordinary skill would be able to use theseexamples to derive a wide variety of implementations. Further andalthough some subject matter may have been described in languagespecific to examples of structural features and/or method steps, it isto be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claimsis not necessarily limited to these described features or acts. Forexample, such functionality can be distributed differently or performedin components other than those identified herein. Rather, the describedfeatures and steps are disclosed as examples of components of systemsand methods within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: by a wireless ear bud pairedwith a companion communication device: detecting a first wearing statusindicating that the wireless ear bud is inserted in an ear of a user,sending, responsive to detecting the first wearing status, a firstsignal to the companion communication device to cause an operatingsystem component of the companion communication device to publishavailability of a first audio route of a plurality of audio routes inthe companion communication device to allow user-selectable controls i)to indicate availability of the first audio route to route audio datafrom an application running on the companion communication device andii) to transmit audio data from the application based on a userselection via the first audio route to the wireless ear bud, detecting,subsequent to sending the first signal, a change in wearing status fromthe first wearing status to a second wearing status indicating that thewireless ear bud is not inserted in the ear of the user, and sending,responsive to detecting the change in wearing status to the secondwearing status, a second signal to the companion communication device tocause the operating system component of the companion communicationdevice to un-publish availability of the first audio route i) todisallow the user-selectable controls to indicate availability of thefirst audio route for applications to use for audio data routing and ii)to disable transmitting the audio data via the first audio route to thewireless ear bud.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the companioncommunication device transmits the audio data to the wireless ear budvia a wireless communication interface.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the second signal causes the companion communication device torevert to transmitting the audio data via a default audio route of theplurality of audio routes in the companion communication device.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the wireless ear bud is paired with a secondwireless ear bud; and the second wearing status indicates that neitherthe wireless ear bud nor the second wireless ear bud is inserted in anear of the user.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the second signalcauses the companion communication device to revert to transmitting theaudio data via a previously used audio route of the plurality of audioroutes in the companion communication device.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the second signal indicates that the companion communicationdevice is to pause the audio data.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting a second change in wearing status from the secondwearing status to the first wearing status; and sending, responsive todetecting the second change in wearing status, a third signal to thecompanion communication device to cause the operating system componentof the companion communication device to re-publish availability of thefirst audio route of the plurality of audio routes to allow theuser-selectable controls to indicate availability of the first audioroute to route audio data from the application or from a secondapplication running on the companion communication device via the firstaudio route to the wireless ear bud.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein:the third signal coincides with an in-coming voice call; the secondapplication comprises a voice application; and the third signalindicates to the companion device to answer the in-coming voice call. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein, subsequent to transmitting the thirdsignal, the wireless ear bud is configured to transmit audio dataobtained via a microphone of the wireless ear bud to the companioncommunication device.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the thirdsignal indicates that audio associated with a received text message isto be transmitted to the wireless ear bud.
 11. A wireless ear bud,comprising: a sensor configured to detect when the wireless ear bud isinserted in an ear; a communications interface that enables the wirelessear bud to communicate wirelessly with a second wireless ear bud andwith a companion communication device; and a processor configured toexecute instructions that cause the wireless ear bud to: receive audiodata from the companion communication device via the communicationsinterface, detect, via the sensor, that the wireless ear bud is removedfrom the ear; and send, responsive to detecting that the wireless earbud is removed from the ear, a signal to the companion communicationdevice via the communications interface to cause an operating systemcomponent of the companion communication device to un-publishavailability of a first audio route of a plurality of audio routes i) todisallow user-selectable controls to indicate availability of a firstaudio route of a plurality of audio routes in the companioncommunication device for applications to use for audio data routing andii) to disable transmitting the audio data via the first audio route tothe wireless ear bud.
 12. The wireless ear bud of claim 11, whereinexecution of the instructions further causes the wireless ear bud tosend one or more signals to the companion communication deviceindicating whether the wireless ear bud and/or the second wireless earbud are inserted in an ear to cause the operating system component ofthe companion communication device to publish availability of the firstaudio route of the plurality of audio routes in the companioncommunication device to allow the user-selectable controls i) toindicate availability of the first audio route to route audio data froman application running on the companion communication device and ii) totransmit audio data from the application based on a user selection viathe first audio route to the wireless ear bud and/or to the secondwireless ear bud.
 13. The wireless ear bud of claim 12, wherein thecompanion communication device is configured to: transmit the audio datato the wireless ear bud in mono when one of the wireless ear bud or thesecond wireless ear bud is inserted in an ear, and transmit the audiodata to the wireless ear bud in stereo when both the wireless ear budand the second wireless ear bud are inserted in respective ears.
 14. Thewireless ear bud of claim 12, wherein, when the one or more signalsindicates that the second wireless ear bud is inserted in an ear and thewireless ear bud is not inserted in an ear, the companion communicationdevice re-routes the audio data to the second wireless ear bud.
 15. Thewireless ear bud of claim 11, further comprising: a second sensorconfigured to detect an in ear status of the wireless ear bud, whereinthe sensor and the second sensor are different types of sensors.
 16. Thewireless ear bud of claim 11, further comprising: a microphoneconfigured to capture audio signals, wherein execution of theinstructions further causes the wireless ear bud to transmit, via thecommunications interface, the captured audio signals to the companioncommunication device.
 17. A companion communication devicecommunicatively coupled with a primary wireless ear bud and a secondarywireless ear bud, the companion communication device comprising: acommunications interface configured to communicate wirelessly with theprimary and secondary wireless ear buds; a speaker for outputting audio;a processor coupled to the communications interface; and a memorystoring instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause thecompanion communication device to: receive an in-ear status signalindicating an in-ear status for each of the primary wireless ear bud andthe secondary wireless ear bud; publish, by an operating systemcomponent of the companion communication device, availability of a firstaudio route of a plurality of audio routes in the companioncommunication device to allow user-selectable controls i) to indicateavailability of the first audio route to route audio data from anapplication running on the companion communication device, ii) to outputaudio data from the application based on a user selection via the firstaudio route to the primary wireless ear bud in mono when the in-earstatus signal indicates that only the primary wireless ear bud isinserted; and iii to output audio data from the application based on theuser selection via the first audio route to the primary wireless ear budin stereo when the in-ear status signal indicates that both the primarywireless ear bud and the secondary wireless ear bud are inserted; andun-publish, by the operating system component, availability of the firstaudio route, when previously selected for audio routing, i) to disallowthe user-selectable controls to indicate availability of the first audioroute for applications to use for audio routing and ii) to disabletransmitting the audio data via the first audio route, when the in-earstatus signal indicates that neither the primary wireless ear bud northe secondary wireless ear bud is inserted.
 18. The companioncommunication device of claim 17, wherein the companion communicationdevice is capable of receiving an in-coming voice call.
 19. Thecompanion communication device of claim 18, wherein execution of theinstructions further causes the companion communication device to answerthe in-coming voice call responsive to determining a change in thein-ear status signal indicating that the primary wireless ear bud isinserted.
 20. The companion communication device of claim 17, whereinthe primary wireless ear bud includes at least two sensors used togenerate the in-ear status signal.